Thanks to exceptional coordination between the Andover Highway Department and our bridge engineers, a near-century-old, crumbling structure was dismantled and a new bridge put in place in just 10 months! (Read more about the Hall Road Bridge project from The Beacon article by Maureen Callahan.)
Set up For Success
Designing, permitting and building a bridge replacement in 10 months is no small feat. The key to success for this project was instituting good communication with everyone involved, starting in January 2024, with Project Manager Josif Bicja and Andover Highway Supervisor Kevin Duval. Additionally, from the start, the selectboard members and past-and-current Town Administrators communicated with impacted property owners to establish community needs. Because of that coordination, Fire Chief Steve Barton provided fire engine security on the isolated side of the bridge, and Kevin Duval followed with a quad rental “to transport first responders” and “get residents home at the end of a late shift or to transport groceries” according to The Beacon’s article.
Since local residents were impacted by the bridge replacement, communication with the public was a big factor in the project’s success.
Cost Saving Measures
While the Hall Road Bridge could have easily come in at more than $400,000, the project came in under the budgeted $200,000. Josif Bicja credits a lot of this to the technical acumen of Kevin Duval. Kevin has construction experience and project management capabilities that go above and beyond what other municipalities have. Kevin’s skills were complemented by his own team’s ability to operate heavy equipment. This led to an expedited experience, saving money.
The highway department team constructed a pedestrian bridge out of upcycled materials for the quad rental. They used hemlock sourced from the transfer station, eliminating a materials cost to this portion of the project.
Devotion & Commitment
In the bridge industry, Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) is a way to build bridges faster using innovative techniques. They require extensive resources and equipment to make them a success. Where these projects are usually undertaken by bridge contractors with experience, the Andover Highway team managed to execute the techniques with limited resources and equipment.
Both Josif and Kevin noted the team’s commitment to getting the project done. As quoted in The Beacon, Kevin said, “This team’s work ethic and commitment to getting the job done as designed and on time was obvious to anyone watching the daily progress. Some workdays started before sunrise and one even stretched out to 9:15 p.m., with work being completed in the rain and by floodlight.”
Continued Support
We love designing and building bridges, but what we love even more is providing safe infrastructure for communities to enjoy. We are thankful to the effort and trust from the Town of Andover to make this project a success. If you’d like to hear how our bridge design and construction experts could help your community, please reach out to me.
